The Dark Knight Returns - The Dark Knight FanFiction
by princessdianaofthemyscira
Summary: Bruce has made his comeback to Gotham and has become good friends with John Blake and is secretly training John to help him protect the city of Gotham along with Selina Kyle. But after the events that happened in The Dark Knight Rises, The Joker has escaped Arkham Asylum and has brought new friends to help him take on Batman forcing Bruce to form alliances.
1. Chapter 1

Bruce Wayne, esteemed billionaire and business man, was thought to be dead by the civilians of Gotham City. Once a respected man whom everyone knew as a lost billionaire orphan was now thought to be a careless man who burned down his own home, owned everything and anything he wanted, and just a rich man with power. What most people said about this was just that "he had it coming." Only a few people such as his loving butler, Alfred Pennyworth, his long time friend Lucius Fox, the city's own commissioner Gordon, and his new and trusted friend John Blake.

Bruce was known as a careless man to most people but was thought to be nothing but a sad and lonely man using money as a distraction from his distraught life. Losing his own parents during a mugging when he was a young boy, his best friend Rachel Dawes, and his own health was taking a toll on Bruce but what was thought by everyone as his weaknesses was Bruce's own strength and was what kept him going after all this time.

Now, Bruce has made his comeback to Gotham, revealing he left the city on his private jet with his new fiancé, Selina Kyle, before Bane terrorized the city, not wanting anyone to know about their relationship. Bruce has become good friends with John Blake whom knows of his secret identity and is secretly training John, to help him protect the city of Gotham along with Selina. But after the events that happened in The Dark Knight Rises, an old enemy of his escaped Arkham Asylam and has brought new friends to help him take on Batman forcing Bruce to form alliances with a few people.

* * *

Before the crazy and terrifying visit to Gotham city from Bane, was a young and eager girl who just graduated from college with a degree in Psychology. Her first choice in applying for a job was somewhere close to home, in Arkham Asylum. When she was hired, she excitedly took a tour around the asylum and met a few of the patients who lived there and took an interest in one whom she'd never forget. Her name was Dr. Harleen Quinzel M.D.

She asked to be assigned with him after her first few weeks working there and after being refused because how dangerous and mental this patient really was, she was eventually granted permission to work with him. She finally was able to meet and talk to him for the first time and found herself being scared and nervous.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Quinzel. How are you today?" she said.

"Well it's a bit warm in here but what can you expect from a cheap, old, asylum in the middle of summer." he said with a smile. Harleen put her paperwork down and adjusted her glasses. "You're new. What's a pretty girl like you doing in an old, wasted place like here?"

"My job." said Harleen with a stern look. She turned on the tape recorder she was given by the asylum. She was told that anything that had to do with this criminal was to be recorded but she didn't understand why because she knew this room in particular had two cameras in each side and four more outside of it. "Now, let's get started shall we? Why don't you start with your name."

"My name? Well I guess you can say it's last name Joker, first name The." he said with a laugh.

"That's not what I meant." Harleen said with a serious tone. "What's you're real name? The name you had before you started committing crimes all over Gotham city."

"I never had a real name." he said rolling his eyes.

"So you'd just like to be referred as 'The Joker' for the rest of your life?" she said.

"Listen Doc, I don't plan on giving a hoot about my name, I plan on giving justice to the people who deserve it." he said.

"Justice? To who?" she said barely remembering to write everything down.

"To the people who can't do their jobs and to the people who do wrong." he said.

"Like who? Batman?" she said very interested.

"Batman? Batman was just in the way. I could've done this city a favor if it wasn't for good ol' batsey." he said putting his hands down on the table.

"Why do you think Batman was doing wrong?" she said.

"Well look at that." The Joker said crossing his arms.

"What?" Harleen said looking up from her notebook.

"You're the only nut-head who's got a good word out of me." he said.

"And why is that?" she said.

"I don't know, must be something pretty special about you." he said.

Harleen didn't know why but she blushed and quickly used her notebook to cover her cheeks. She cleared her throat. "Well, Mr. Joker, I was only allowed five minutes with you so I guess this is the end of this session." she said gathering her things.

"Really, what a shame. I'm guessing I'll be seeing more of you in this nut-house, won't I?" he said smiling bigger.

"I'm guessing. Yes." she said leaving.

"Have a nice day, doc." The Joker said.

Harleen said nothing and just walked out. As she stepped outside, her boss walked up to her. She forgot he was going to be examining the session.

"What'd I tell you, he's nothing but a crazy lunatic." he said crossing his arms.

"Well, I don't think he's a lunatic, he's just misunderstood. He needs to know that the world isn't worked up like he thinks it is." she said.

"Really? You know, you're the first doctor who hasn't ran out of that room looking for holy water." he said.

"What? Really?" she said a little nervous.

"Well I made that last part up but that's what I'd do. Anyways, I was gonna ask you something." he said starting to walk.

"What is it?" she said barely able to catch up.

"Well, you see, like I said, you're the only doctor who's able to get him to start talking more so I thought maybe you wouldn't mind him being assigned as you're patient from now on. I've seen what you've done with the other patients and you're actually really quite a good psychiatrist." he said.

"Really? I'd love—um—like to have him as one of my patients. He's the most interesting one I've had since—"

"Great! Well, I've got to be somewhere so see you tomorrow." he said walking into his office.

Harleen was feeling excited and she didn't know why but she couldn't wait to have another session with the Joker, this time a longer one.

For about two months, Harleen had been seeing the Joker and each time she had a session with him, she'd become even more interested in him. She found out that as a young child, the Joker had been abused by his parents who never really loved him, and despite him murdering them, Harleen felt that in the Joker's heart, he felt that he was doing good in trying to destroy Gotham, if it wasn't for Batman, he probably would've gotten the closure he needed. And with more and more sessions she had with him, she found herself feeling sympathy and understanding for him.

Eventually, Gotham city was in trouble again and this time it seemed like the city was coming to an end. Bane had trapped the entire city by exploding the bridge so there was no way in or out of the city. And eventually, Bane had let out all the criminals from prison and even the asylum. For weeks Harleen had not been to work and she found herself missing the Joker and wondering if what she felt for the Joker was the same as he felt for her. She had finally realized she had fallen in love with him.

As she was walking down her street on her way home from looking for some food, she found herself being followed. She looked back to see two men walking up to her. She panicked and started running but there were already two more men ahead of her.

"Hey sweetie what are you doing out so late, don't you know it's dangerous out here." one of them said grabbing her on the shoulder.

"Leave me alone!" she said pushing him away from her.

"Oh, looks like we have a fighter here." another man said laughing at her.

"Get away from me!" she said running away, but it was too late, they grabbed her and threw her down and started to rip her coat off.

"It's okay, don't fight it, it'll all be over soon enough." one of them said smiling and looking up and down at her.

Adrenaline rushed through her as she got up and pushed him away. She grabbed a knife she had hidden in her coat and cut him. "I said stay away!"

One of the men pushed her to the floor again and grabbed a gun he had.

_ Oh no!_, she thought.

She didn't know what to do. She grabbed his hand and punched him on the face, the other men were already grabbing her and trying to throw her to the ground again.

_ This is where eight years of gymnastics and self-defense pays off!,_ she thought.

She aimed her knife at one of the men's stomach and threw it then punched one of the other men's throat, then the crotch, then slammed his face on her knee. She heard gunshots from the other men and wasn't sure if any of the bullets had hit her. She grabbed the gun one of the men dropped and shot at the other man's face. She looked down and realized one of them were bleeding to death, another was knocked out, and another was dead.

_ There's one more left.,_ she thought.

But before she could turn around, he grabbed her from behind. She punched him on his stomach with her elbow as hard as she could and punched him on the face with the gun, he lost his grip and she escaped his arms and aimed the gun straight at his face and pulled the trigger. She turned around and saw the other men on the floor.

_ Two of them are still alive.,_ she thought.

Without hesitation she shot at the two men, who were groaning, straight at the face. Then, realizing what she'd done, she dropped the gun and looked around.

_ I just killed four men._ she thought.

Suddenly, she heard clapping coming from behind her. She was shocked to see the Joker coming towards her.

"You." she whispered. "How long were you there?"

"Since the beginning." he said with a huge smile on his face.

"What? Since the beginning?" she said surprised. "Why didn't you help me!"

"Because I saw it as an opportunity." he said putting his hands behind his back.

"An opportunity for what?" she asked.

"Consider this as your audition and hey, you're hired!" he said waving his hands in front of his face.

"What?" she said confused.

"Well, I'm out of the looney bin now and you caught my attention. You're not hard to track down you know." he said.

"Wait, what do you mean?" she said.

"I was getting to that, it's so rude to interrupt you know." he said giving her a look that made her nervous. "Anyways, you're the only person in this whole chaotic world who doesn't make me feel like brutally murdering them and I looked into you're records and let me say, I was very surprised to find out some things about you miss Harleen Quinzel. So I decided to come and find you and it looks like I came right at the right moment. Just before you murdered these thugs that is. You really did not disappoint." he said with a sly smile.

"Okay, so what do you want?" she said crossing her arms.

"What I want is you. You to join me." he said gesturing himself.

"In doing what?" she said lowering her arms.

"In doing my biggest plan yet. Of course we'll have to change the name first. Harleen sounds like the name of your grandmother." he said.

"It was actually." she said blushing.

"So what's it gonna be? Wanna continue living the same boring life at that ol' asylum after all this is over, or will you join me in making a name for yourself and helping me give justice in Gotham to those who deserve it?" he said holding a hand out.

She looked down at his hand then at him. "What makes you think there's gonna be a Gotham after all this?"

"With Batsey still around? Trust me this will be history by the time we get started." he said still holding his hand out.

Harleen wasn't sure what to do. She felt scared, nervous, and confused but she also felt excited, joyful, and flattered that he would think of her and like her enough to invite her to join him. Her head was full of different confusing thoughts but she didn't care. She took his hand. He smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Present Day**

It was the middle of the day, Bruce, his fiancé Selina Kyle, and good friend John Blake are all down in the Batcave training John. Selina had volunteered to help by fighting John, while Bruce was giving John advice and directions on defending himself. Selina had kept beating John and now John is starting to get frustrated.

"You sure you don't want me to go easier on you?" says Selina.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just give me all you got." says John barely able to catch his breath.

Selina, once again, tackles John to the ground with a laugh.

"You're not concentrating hard enough." says Bruce.

"I've been concentrated this whole time!" yells John frustrated, still laying on the ground.

"Look, it's not that hard, just concentrate on her moves, predict what's coming next, and use it against her." says Bruce walking up to John.

"How do I predict what's coming next? She unpredictable." says John getting up.

"No she's not, it's pretty easy." says Bruce crossing his arms.

"Hey!" says Selina from across the room.

"I didn't mean it like that. You are unpredictable at times." says Bruce with a smile.

"At times? When have you ever taken me down? I seem to recall throwing you to the floor, the first time we met, with just a small kick." says Selina walking up to Bruce.

"She what?" says John.

"You did not throw me to the floor, may I remind you I was…disabled at the time." says Bruce wrapping his arm around her.

"You two never did tell me how you met." says John grabbing a towel.

"Well that's a story for another time, how about some more training for right now." says Bruce.

"Oh c'mon, I've been training for hours, I think we should focus on other things." says John.

"Like what?" asks Selina.

"Like the wedding which is only a couple weeks away." says Alfred walking in with a tray full of clean towels and water bottles.

"We have the wedding planner to worry about that." says Bruce.

"Yes, but may I remind you he will be here in twenty minutes and you two love birds are going to have to make decisions on everything that's left." says Alfred offering the tray to Bruce and Selina.

"Right, well I better head to the shower, I'll meet you inside in fifteen." Selina says to Bruce with a kiss.

"Hey, Bruce." says John looking at the computer. "You better check this out."

Bruce hadn't even noticed John had been at the computer. "What is it?" he asks.

"There's been more robberies in Gotham." says John.

"That's something the police can handle." says Bruce walking up to him.

"No, it's her again." says John pointing at the screen.

There was a blurry picture of a woman with clown make-up dressed like a jester laughing on the screen.

"Her again. Who is she exactly? Do you think she's working for him?" asks Alfred.

"Her name is Harley Quinn apparently. No info on her real name though." says John.

"And whatever she's up to is not good, especially if she is working for him." Bruce says.

"We should go after her and question her." says John.

"No. Not yet at least. Gotham just found out Bruce Wayne is alive, they're not ready to find out so is Batman." says Bruce turning off the screen.

"C'mon Bruce, it'd be a great come-back. The Batman returns along with his new and amazing partner, Robin! It'd make a great headline." John says with a smile.

"Robin?" says Bruce with a laugh.

"You're name is literally man bat. And Robin's my birth name." says John crossing his arms.

"Is it?" says Alfred. "Why'd you change it?"

"Because I didn't think anyone would take me serious with Robin as a name, especially the police academy." says John.

"Well, I'd better get washed up. We'll finish training later." says Bruce walking away.

"Can't wait." says John sarcastically.


	3. Chapter 3

"Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle's Secret Love Story." The Joker reads from the Gotham City newspaper. "I'm sick of hearing about these two. Can't they just get married and shut up already?"

"Yeah, makes me wanna crash the wedding just to make em' regret making a big fuss." says Harley.

"Crash the wedding?" says the Joker. "Hmm…"

"So what's next for us, sweetie? I gotta say, I'm getting a little tired of the same ol' robberies." says Harley sitting on the Joker's desk.

Harley started looking around. She was tired of looking at the same old warehouse that they've been hiding in for the past 4 months. It smelled of cardboard and alcohol and Harley hated it. She wondered if this is how the Joker's lived his whole life and then wondered how he could stand it. She noticed the Joker hadn't said anything for a couple minutes.

"Sweetie?" Harley says.

"Shut up, I'm thinking." The Joker says.

Harley rolled her eyes and laid down on the desk, she didn't really like how he treated her sometimes but she always reminded herself of how much she really loved him and about the special connection they had.

"That's it." The Joker said after a while. "Harley! You're a genius!"

The Joker stood up which startled Harley.

"What? What'd I say?" says Harley confused.

"That's the big plan." The Joker said holding Harley's face. She always loved it when he did that.

"What'ya mean sweetie?" she said smiling.

"We crash the wedding, throw in a few explosions, and bring a few friends to finish the job for us. That is what'll catch the Bat's attention." the Joker said excitedly.

Harley sighed. Everyone in Gotham knew Batman had sacrificed himself to save the city, everyone saw it. She asked the Joker plenty of times why he thought he was still alive, but he never gave her a straight answer.

_ If he was alive he would've caught me in the robberies, that's why we've been doing em' for the past three months._ she thought.

"Sweetie, there's no way the Bat's alive. We'd just be wasting ammo." she said standing up.

"Of course he's alive!" he yelled out furiously. Harley flinched. "Like I was saying, we crash the big wedding, I make my appearance, while you break in Wayne manor and leave a few gifts for the old billionaire, and then after it all, there's no way Batman could resist coming back." he spit out the name Batman.

"Okay, whatever you say." she says crossing her arms.

"Great, now that we're on the same page. Let's start looking for some old friends of mine." he says.

"Friends? What friends? You were in that old asylum for years." says Harley with a small laugh.

The Joker looked at Harley with a face that gave her goose bumps. She immediately regretted saying anything.

"You go to downtown Gotham and start recruiting a few people. I'll meet you here in the morning." the Joker said walking away.

Harley looked at her watch. "It'll be dawn in a couple of hours!"

"Well you better start looking then, don't you." he said with a grim voice.

Harley sighed. She grabbed a few weapons and started walking in the opposite direction. "The things I do for love." she said loudly, hoping the Joker would hear.


	4. Chapter 4

Harley started walking downtown, making sure to cover herself up. She didn't want anyone recognizing her and get the cops after her. A few guys came up to her and all she did was show them her gun, told them to leave her alone, and they did. She thought about recruiting them but they all looked too weak or distracted. She was becoming quite famous in the city, it's easy to remember her face seeing as it was all over the news these past few weeks. Harley was surprised no one had figured out who she was yet, she saw her face, the one with no clown make-up on, also on the news as a missing person and she realized she won't ever miss that life again.

Harley checked her watch. _Better start looking for some good recruits_. she thought.

Just as she looked up, she heard a noise coming from behind her. There was just an alley behind her and she couldn't see anything in there. She walked closer. Suddenly, someone ran out past her, bumping her on the shoulder.

"Hey!" she yelled. They didn't answer back.

The police sirens that were just background noise five seconds ago were starting to get louder and louder. She ran towards the person.

"Wait up! Maybe I can help you!" she yelled.

The person kept running and Harley was trying to run faster to catch up. The person stopped when they reached a large fence. Harley stopped to catch her breath.

"Who—who are you?" Harley asked, catching her breath with her hands on her knees.

The person turned around. He or she had a long trench coat covering him or her entirely, it was too dark too dark to see the face. "You should go." she said.

_It's a woman?_ Harley thought.

The woman turned back around and raised her hand.

"What're you—" Harley started.

Before Harley could finish she noticed the woman was doing something, she could hear it. Harley looked up and saw a vine coming towards the woman.

_Where's that vine coming from?_ Harley thought.

Harley then saw the vine pulling the woman up and then she was gone. She stood there in shock. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was awake.

_If what I saw was real then Mr. J would definitely want her on our side._ she thought.

Harley started climbing the fence and ran to look for her. She could see something moving by the building, she wasn't sure if it was her or not but she kept running anyway.

"Hey! Please wait! Let me talk to you!" Harley screamed.

Harley stopped running. She stood there with her hands on her knees to catch her breath again.

"Dammit! Please, whoever you are, just please, I only wanna talk!" she says getting frustrated.

She heard a noise behind her.

"What do you want?" says the woman walking up to her.

"Uh," Harley could see her face clearer now. She had long red hair, her skin was a pale shade of green, the trench coat was covering the rest of her but she could already tell she was beautiful. "My name's Harley Quinn, you seem pretty unique."

"I could say the same about you." she says. "What is it that you want, I don't think you chased me just to introduce yourself."

"Yeah, you're right. I know you're pretty suspicious of me but I promise, I'm a really nice person." she says trying not to scare her away.

"You look familiar. Have we met before?" she asked.

"Trust me, I'd remember you. You've probably seen my face all over the papers. What's you're name." Harley says with a smile.

"I'm Dr. Pa—sorry I mean…they call me Poison Ivy." she says forming her hands into fists.

"A doctor huh?" Harley says crossing her arms. "It's okay, I was a doctor too before all this. I worked at Arkham Asylum. You?"

Poison Ivy stayed quiet, hesitant to answer. "What do you want from me?"

"Okay, listen," Harley sighed. "I work for the Joker, and he's planning something big but we need help. Having you on our team would be great but don't worry, you'll be paid so much money, you won't have to steal whatever it is you took again."

"I don't want to be in any more trouble than I already am." Poison Ivy says stepping back.

"But—" Harley started.

"No! I work alone." Poison Ivy started walking away.

"Wait! Please, I know it's dangerous work but what more trouble could you possibly be in? You and I could work together. I've never seen anyone like me before, we're alike, you know." Harley says moving closer.

"We are nothing alike. I—I 'm just a laboratory accident. I didn't choose to be like this." Poison Ivy says turning back around.

"That's where you're wrong, we may not have the same back story, but we both know that we do what it takes to survive, especially as a criminal. Come with me and you get the respect you deserve. No one will ever bother you again, they won't even think to." Harley says.

Poison Ivy was quiet for a second, not sure what to say. Harley put her hand on her shoulder.

"You won't do this alone either, I'll be with you every step of the way." she said with a smile.

Poison Ivy turned around. "Alright, just as long as I get paid."

Harley smiled and jumped excitedly. "Oh yay, I promise you won't regret it! Wait till you meet Mr. J!"

Poison Ivy smiled. "Okay, okay. You got a place to stay with food?"

"Yep!" Harley said moving to her side. "This way!"


	5. Chapter 5

Harley and Poison Ivy made their way into the warehouse about thirty minutes after sunrise. The Joker wasn't there yet so they had to wait an hour for him to finally return. Harley was still very excited to introduce Poison Ivy to him. Her face lit up as she saw the Joker walking in.

"Puddin', you're back!" Harley said skipping up to him.

The Joker put his hand up, "Where is everyone?" he asked.

Harley looked down. "Well, you see, I couldn't quite find anyone out there, they were all—"

"What do you mean you couldn't find anyone, I was expecting a minimum of at least fifty people." The Joker said gritting his teeth.

"Well, I did find someone." Harley stepped back and gestured toward Poison Ivy. Harley barely noticed there were others walking in.

"Her?" The Joker said getting angrier.

Harley put her hands on her hips. "Wait now, before you get mad—"

"You were supposed to get me an army!" The Joker yelled. "What am I supposed to do with her, sweetie!" he lifted his hand up but before he could hit Harley, Poison Ivy stopped him, wrapping his arm with her vine.

"Stop!" Poison Ivy yelled. "You do not treat her that way!"

The Joker looked at Poison Ivy surprised. "Oh," he said smiling. "Now I see why you brought her, dear." he looked down at Harley who was a little frightened but smiled anyways.

Poison Ivy unwrapped her vine from the Joker's arm. The Joker started walking up to her, "And what might you're name be?"

"Her name's Poison Ivy, I found her running away from the cops." Harley said.

"You'd make a great addition to the team, Poison Ivy." the Joker said menacingly. "How good are you with those vines of yours?"

"Well, there's more to me than my vines. I could show you but I'm afraid you'd be dead before I finish my demonstration." Poison Ivy said.

"Interesting, perhaps you could me with ol' Harley here." the Joker said wrapping his fingers around Harley's cheeks.

"No." Poison Ivy said wrapping her vine around his arm again to pull him away from Harley.

The Joker laughed and took a close look at the vine. He looked at Poison Ivy, "Oh I like you."

Harley was happy that the Joker liked Poison Ivy but felt a little jealous. She cleared her throat, "So who'd ya bring with you sweetie?"

"Right, where are my manners? Harley, Poison Ivy, allow me to introduce to you the rest of our team." the Joker said.

Three men were walking up towards them, Harley and Poison Ivy could barely see them. They stepped out of the shadows, smiling.

"This is the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, and the Penguin." the Joker said gesturing to the three men.

"Hello!" said the Riddler enthusiastically walking up to Harley and Poison Ivy, shaking their hands. The Riddler was dressed in all dark green, dirty clothes, including his hat. His voice was loud and excited. His eyes were very dark, Harley wasn't sure if he was wearing make-up or if he was just covered in dirt. Poison Ivy was skeptical of him.

"Uh, hi there." said Harley.

"Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot." said the Penguin offering his hand to Harley and Poison Ivy. They both shook it. "That's my full name, just call me the Penguin for short." the Penguin was dressed very formally, almost the opposite of the Riddler. His voice was raspy. He was wearing a clean tuxedo, complete with a top hat, and had an umbrella in hand. His face frightened Harley a little, he had a long penguin-like nose and suddenly Harley understood his name.

"Enough with the introductions, when do we start destroying the Batman?" said Mr. Freeze impatiently. Harley and Poison Ivy were very curious about what he was wearing. It looked like he was wearing a giant suit that kept him cool and Poison Ivy realized that that was exactly what it was. She couldn't see his eyes clearly but she could tell he was very pale, almost the same shade of the Ice around his suit.

"I'm getting to that." said the Joker. "Here's the plan, listen up all of you, I'm not repeating myself." he started walking behind the table which Harley and Poison Ivy were sitting on, and sat down on the chair. "Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle's big wedding day is coming up and the whole city is talking about it, it's practically gonna be shown as a live event, which means everyone will be watching. Everyone including the Batman."

"Interesting." the Penguin said placing both hands on his umbrella.

"What better way to show our congrats than to attend the wedding ourselves. We trash the place and send out a message to the Batman, let him know that what we have planned is bigger than anything's Gotham's ever faced. You all still have your weapons correct?" said the Joker.

The Riddler, Mr. Freeze, and the Penguin all looked at each other.

"I'm liking where this is going. Perhaps this isn't a waste of time." Mr. Freeze said.

"The only thing that's missing is my army that Harley neglected to bring me." the Joker said standing up.

"Don't worry puddin', I could get 50 people by tonight. Both Ivy and I could get em'. They'll be ready." Harley said standing up and walking to the Joker.

"Get me 200 men in two days or you're out. Both of you!" the Joker said pushing Harley away. "Now, here's how it's all going to happen…"


End file.
